Armageddon
by Captain Snippet
Summary: When Kairi moves to a new school because of her crazy father's hunches, she's ready to start over again. But soon she learns that her father might not be so crazy, and that someone in her new school harbors a secret that could harm many...
1. City of the Damned

**Warning: **This story contains religious content which may offend some readers. My intent is not to make anyone feel uncomfortable or harrassed, merely to entertain.

**Armageddon**

Chapter 1

_City of the Damned_

"I swear it. We've found him this time. He's in this city, I just _know_ it. He's here. Trust me."

Kairi rolled her eyes at her ranting father in the seat ahead of her and rested her head against the pane of the backseat window in their car. Her red hair clung stubbornly to the fog-encased window and she had to look through it to see the busy freeway outside. As cars on the other side zoomed past she could imagine her old home sinking farther and farther into the distance.

"He's here..."

Kairi sighed. Her father had done this seven times before. Pulled her away from one home just as she was finally getting settled in. Her mother didn't care. Oh, no. Of course not. She was just as drawn in to the stupid chase-the-antichrist game as her father was.

Kairi's parents, Hikari and Dubric Fonce, were both religious fanatics. They were convinced God had a special quest for them- to find the antichrist and somehow destroy him. They always moved after receiving a so-called 'special' message from God as to the antichrist's whereabouts. They had apparently received one three weeks ago. Kairi's mother and father were convinced she would play a major part in capturing the antichrist or killing him or whatever. They said God had even sent them a vision telling them when they would conceive her and all that grandeur.

They were absolutely nutters.

Kairi glanced up at her parents in the front seat.

"Oh, he's close," her mother was saying. "I can sense it."

Kairi almost reached forward to slap her mother. She was so crazy. Kairi vowed that as soon as she was able to, she would have them admitted to an old persons' home, or an insane asylum. They would say she couldn't do it to them or some crazy talk like that, but she didn't care- It was, after all, for their own good.

Kairi sank further down into her seat as they turned off the highway and onto a smaller street that would take them to her new home. Kairi sighed and turned away from her parents and their ridiculous ramblings. Kairi watched as factories and malls flew past the window, often overcrowded with cars and people, bustling about with shopping bags or large crates and boxes. The number of large malls and businesses decreased as they drove, giving way for smaller stores and restaurants, as well as several rural neighbourhoods.

Kairi sighed as one house rolled into another. They had all begun to look the same now. The same basic design, often the same colour and more and more the exact same garden along the front windows. Kairi thought now that she would hate living here if it meant being exactly like everyone else right down to every last detail including her then, Kairi realized with a sigh, she would never be like everyone else. Who else had parents who travelled all over the country looking for the son of Satan?

She looked once again to the front seat of the car and her parents, now trying to navigate their way around, having trouble saying whether they'd been down one street before or not. Kairi watched as her mother read the directions she had written down before and rolled her eyes as her mother muttered about taking a left turn further back. Kairi's mother began to wave her hands about frantically, saying that the street to the right was one of their turn-offs.

They turned down the street and Kairi smiled, finally a sight her eyes welcomed. The houses on this street were not all exactly alike. They all had their own individual style, their own colour, their own garden designs. They pulled into the driveway of a house with a sign reading "SOLD" out in front. For the first time in a rather long while, Karir trusted her parents judgement.

The house was perfect.

Painted a dim off-grey, the house stood two, maybe three floors tall. The house had three sections, one sticking out farther than the other two on the left. The one to the right was more of a wing, primarily consisting of a sunporch. The entire building was huge, but not big enough that one would think her family insanely rich. She could see houses like that a few blocks away, though, and they had driven past several.

Kairi was not now concerned with the affairs of the wealthy people living around her, though. She just wanted to get inside and pick a room for her own. Kairi hopped out of the car. She was about to dash inside when a voice calling out stopped her. She turned and saw a girl her age, standing there.

"Hey!" the girl said, extending her hand. "You must be the new kid!"

"Yeah... It's Kairi." Kairi shook the girl's hand.

She was pretty, though not gorgeous, Kairi noted. Her eyes were bright green and her hair was a shoulder-length brown. She had on a yellow sundress that looked like it was made for a little girl, larged and then put on. It was cute, though.

"I'm Selphie. Come on! I'll show you around!"

Kairi smiled and went on a tour of her new town. By the time school started the next day, she was absolutely fine, feeling totally welcome in this new place already.

That didn't last for long, though.


	2. Let's Be Afraid

**Armageddon**

Chapter 2

_Let's Be Afraid_

Kairi was glad she had avoided the wealthy people the day before, and instead concerned herself with other things. But on the other hand, she had to face them now this way. In front of every other student at her new school. She'd been there for 13 minutes, and already the 'popular' kids had stopped her in the hallyway, making sure she 'stayed the fuck out of their way.'

Kairi, though she wasn't too fond of her parents' lifestyle, was a religious person and felt herself fidget at the curseword. She supposed she could stand up to the three teen boys in front of her, do a bit of cursing on her own and appear to be one of those 'rebels' who were badass and so, automatically left alone by 'popular' people. But, no. That wasn't her. Kairi sighed and kept her eyes on her feet as Tidus, one of the boys, told her that if she didn't stay the hell out of their way, and out of other peoples' business, she might get through the school year.

"But I wasn't in other peoples' business," Kairi said timidly.

The three boys just laughed.

"Oh, we know that!" Riku, the one standing in the middle told her. "This is just a warning." His voice became more cold. "And you'd better heed it."

Kairi shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nodding. She didn't want to say anything to upset them. Neither, it seemed, did any of the other students who were looking on. It wasn't hard to see why the boys were popular. They were very frightening. None of them, except Wakka, standing on Riku's left, seemed to be really big, but it was obvious that each of them were strong. They fit the part of populars to a T in the sense that, not only were they intimidating, they were all rich. Kairi had seen them driving in nice cars to school. Add to that, they were all good-looking; the sort of good-looking that could probably make them popular without the money or fear factor.

Tidus had bright blue eyes and a deep tan that was somewhat oddly accented by his blonde hair. Wakka's hair was red and stuck directly up in an odd manner. He, too, was darkly tanned to a point where Kairi wondered just how much time he spent in the sun. Wakka's eyes were brown and Kairi thought there were more laughter lines around his than Tidus or Riku's, so she decided that if she ever wanted to get on the good side of the popular kids, she would go to Wakka first. Riku was probably the oddest and best looking of them all. His eyes were a turquoise-ish sort of blue that was actually leaning closer towards green. And his hair... Well. It was shoulder-length, that being the first thing that caught her attention. The second had been the colour. At first glance she'd thought it was a platinum sort of blonde, but then she realized that it wasn't. It was silver.

Wakka was the one talking now, although she wasn't listening. Kairi couldn't get her attention off Riku's hair, and without meaning to, she interrupted the speaking boy.

"Is that your natural colour?"

Riku looked a bit surprised for a moment, but then answered, "Yes. Yes, it is," with a sniff. Then, "And it wasn't very polite of you to interrupt like that."

Tidus nodded his head in agreement and opened his mouth to let out a nasty comment but was cut off by someone behind him.

"Are you guys really already bullying people at..." The brunet standing behind Tidus checked his watch. "-7:58? School hasn't even started."

The brunet boy yawned and covered his mouth, his large blue eyes closing in a tired way. He opened them again when Riku, Tidus and Wakka began to laugh.

"Aw, what's wrong, Sora?" Riku teased. "Didn't get your nap yesterday?"

Sora shook his head. "No, actually. I didn't."

The three other boys exchanged glances. "That's too bad," Tidus muttered, casting a questioning glance at Riku.

"Yeah, I know," Sora said. "Anyway...Who's this?"

He nodded his head in Kairi's direction. "This is, uh... What's your name?" Riku asked her.

"Kairi."

"New here, huh?" Sora thought for a moment. "Well, that's nice. I could _not_ care less, if I'm being totally honest. And we-" He looked at the other three boys. "-Have some very important business to attend to."

"We do?" Tidus asked, totally shocked, it seemed.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yes. Come on."

The last two words were forced and Tidus finally gave in and walked down the hall with the others. Even after the four boys had left, the hall remained unpleasantly quiet. Kairi looked around, confused. Finally she caught sight of Selphie and ran over to her.

"Oh, man," Selphie breathed. "You are sooo lucky."

"What? How so?"

"Well," Selphie explained. "Whenever Sora comes to school looking all tired and stuff like that, it usually means someone's gonna get it good, cause he's in a pissy mood. But he hardly even looked at you! Which is weird, because new kids always get it the worst."

Kairi smiled. "So Sora is the meanest of all of them, then? 'Cause the others were pretty awful. I didn't even do anything."

"Well, no. I personally think Riku is the worst, and so do most other people in the school... But Sora will probably be extra mean to you tomorrow or something. I mean, he always is... When he forgets to bully one day, he just saves it for the next... Usually with interest of a sorts... So its worse."

Kairi's smile vanished.

Interest?

She did _not _like the sound of that.


	3. Cause It's Already Showing

**Armageddon**

Chapter 3

'_Cause It's Already Showing_

Kairi sighed and unceremoniously dumped her bookbag onto the floor of her front hall.

"Hi, sweetie!" her mother called from the kitchen. "How was your first day of school?"

Kairi frowned. How _was_ her first day of school? It had been fine, generally speaking. All of her teachers had been kind(ish), not getting angry if she was late, since it was her first day. The other students in her classes had helped her out and Selphie was such a good tour guide that Kairi practically knew her entire way around the school. Unfortunately, any pride Kairi had about knowing her way already and any relief she'd felt at late excuses were chased out of her head with an anxiety that weighed down upon her heavily.

Kairi couldn't shake the thought of what might happen to her tomorrow from her head. Everyone she had befriended in school that day said she was going to get it tomorrow. Usually, Kairi was the sort of person who always found the silver lining, (she had to, really, with her parents being the way they were) and she tried to tell herself that Sora couldn't really be that bad. But part of knew that teenagers could be pretty nasty when it came down to it. She'd gone to several schools, and she had seen just what they were capable of.

Kairi wrinkled up her nose. But how could someone who had supposedly missed his afternnon _nap_ the day before be so bad, really? Sora seemed more like a little kid than a bully. Kairi wondered how the other people in the school had failed to notice this. _Maybe he really is extra mean... _Kairi sighed. Not that she really cared. If Sora was a bully, so be it. She would take it in stride like she always did. And if it got out of hand, she would do something about it. Kairi inwardly giggled. How bad could it be? Sora wouldn't have time to bully her- he'd be too busy _napping!_ This time, Kairi giggled aloud.

"Fine, Mom!" she called to her mother, who was now coming in to the entryway.

Kairi had just begun thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad to have moved here when she saw the look that crossed her mother's face upon seeing her.

"Oh, Kairi!" she gasped. "What happened to you?"

Kairi looked down to survey herself. From her view, she looked the same as she had this morning. She was wearing the same white tank top with the same purple-lavendar skirt that she thought didn't really apply to the school dress code, and the same white sneakers were on her feet. She looked up and stepped backward as her mother leaped forward to grab her arm.

"Oh, come, come! We have to get you cleaned up!"

Kairi let her mother pull her into the bathroom, expecting her to shove her in the shower and turn on the cold water. Surprisingly, though, her mother told her to stay put, rushing from the room, and babbling to herself, about, "Dear Lord, he really is here!" Kairi stood awkwardly on the bathmat, waiting for her frantic's mother return, and when it happened, she was horrified to find that her mother had brought a bottle of Holy water with her. She now found her original fear occuring as well, as her mother ushered her into the shower with her clothes still on, and turned it on quickly, paying no mind to whether or not she was turning on the warm water.

Kairi shivered but did not argue. When her parents got like this, there was nothing that could be done to stop them. Kairi pursed her lips as her mother began pouring Holy water on her, still not speaking up. Finally, after the cold water had drenched her through and through, and her teeth were chattering loudly, even above the noise of the falling water beating against the sides of the shower, she had to know what was going on.

"Mother... What are you doing?"

"Cleaning of all this... This... Blood!"

Kairi looked at her feet where hte water was swirling into the drain, clear and without a tint of red. There was no blood. There was not even any food colouring. If she had thought her mother was messed up before, she had now confirmed her as totally, undeniably _loopy_.

"Mother, _please_. There is no blood on me."

Her mother looked up at her skeptically. "Oh, gosh, sweetie. Maybe not to your eye. But you haven't been gifted with Sight."

Kairi felt her lip curl in disgust. Did she have _Sight?_ No.

_Common_ _sense?_ Yes.

Unlike someone, obviously, she thought as her mother continued to scrub.

Finally it was over and Kairi was allowed to get changed into some dry clothes. Her mother insisted that she join her in the kitchen _immediately _after.

"Honey," her mother said, ripping a small piece of paper in her hands.

She always did that when she was nervous.

"Did you notice anyone... suspicious, today? That you might have gotten near."

Kairi scoffed. Well her math teacher, who was hairless on his head, but monkey everywhere else, had been rather odd. His outrageous german swearing- though she didn't actually _know_ it was swearing, since she didn't speak german, but she'd recognized a word or two, allowing her to identify the language- had certainly been what really made him so odd, though. _Craaazzzzy_, Kairi had thought when he threw a ruler at one student's head, pointing furiously at the question on the board and swearing thoroughly.

Kairi had been fairly positive he was about to have a coronary.

"No, Mom," she drawled tiredly. "No one out of sorts."

"No one?"

"No."

Her mother frowned and stopped fidgeting with the paper.

"Maybe I just passed Crazy Evil Man on the street. Do ya think?"

Her mother considered this.

"Oh, I suppose it's possible."

"Oh, good, I can go then."

Kairi leaped from her chair and headed to her room.

She paused in the doorway at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Kairi, you know... you know I just want my little girl to be safe, right?"

Kairi sighed. Some days she wanted to hate her parents. Some days she knew they loved her, and she knew that she loved them back... despite it all.

"Yeah, Mom... I know."


	4. Faith In What You Most Believe In

So I've basically received the most amazing review ever: "This SUCKED! There was no point the story! If you wrote a story like this 20 years ago, people would stone you to death. If you want to be an author, my advice to you would be don't." Well, gosh! I'm glad I didn't write this story twenty years ago! Wait—oh my God. THEY STILL STONED PEOPLE TO DEATH IN THE 80S? WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THIS?

**Armageddon**

Chapter 4

_Faith In What You Most Believe In  
_

Kairi wanted to rebel. She wanted to fight back against the holy water that her mother had poured down her back. That night, Kairi downloaded some Avenged Sevenfold music. She listened to it. That night, Kairi decided that she had a heavy distaste for metal. And that night, she decided to buy the cd anyways; she decided to burn one, too, so she could spend some time learning how to listen to it without cringing.

The next morning, on some paper, she wrote, _Mom, Dad, gone to school early. Bye!_ and she drew a heart. She thought it was cute.

She was prepared to stop by the music store, but in the end, she just went to school early. With her headphones blaring anti-religious rock, she was a little out of her own mind as she walked down the empty halls. The good thing about this, she supposed, was she could get her books and get to her classroom before everyone else got there. She could have a morning without incident.

That was the plan, anyways.

Of course it didn't actually _happen_ like that. She bumped into Sora about three feet from her locker.

_Man, his eyes are pretty, though_, one girl had commented to her earlier. Another had noted that, _He's like, a total jerk but he's pretty much got really blue eyes. Uhh did that make sense to you, Kairi? Sometimes I don't make sense_. If Kairi remembered properly, that girl's name had been Yuffie. _And in any case, I have a boyfriend,_ Yuffie had told her. _Not to mention Sora doens't date._

Now, though they were supposed to be a real show, she couldn't quite even look at his eyes. Kairi was too busy with his lips. They pouted in, and moved to the side, and at one point she realized he was chewing the inside of his cheek. His lips moved back, and she thought he was going to growl for a moment.

He was just cleaning his teeth or something with his tongue, though.

"New girl."

He was looking her up and down. Kairi wasn't sure if it was a question or not, though it sounded like a statement, so she answered: nod nod nod. Yeah.

Sora, she realizes, is perhaps just a little bit random. She figures, his eyes don't look very pretty, so he must be able to change them. She figures also, that he must brush his teeth a lot. They're nice. He pulls a sucker out of his pocket and starts taking off the wrapping, not much paying attention to her for a while as he does.

"Girl," says he, "what are you doing at school at–" and he looks at his watch because he doesn't know what time it is. His left eyebrow goes up when he finishes "6:30" with a mouthful of lollipop. Strawberry lollipop. It says so on the wrapper, lying now on the floor beside Kairi's feet.

Kairi thought, What was she doing at the school so early?

She says, "...I'm... I'm–" She wanted a morning without incidence.

He might beat her up for lying. Or tease her. Or something. His shoulder hits the lockers next to him, and one ankle crosses over the other. She wonders if this is the epitome of casual.

Even leaning over, he's sort of frightening. God, she thinks, he must be twice my size (Sora's about one to two heads taller than Kairi. She doesn't get that for some reason.) _God, don't let him kill me amen._

Oh, but she's rebelling. _Nevermind, God_, she thinks, and she just realizes it then, but Sora isn't wearing his school uniform. There's a bag slung over his shoulder, and something that looks like the sleeve of a green school blazer's hanging out.

"Avoiding bullies."

"Uh-huh."

His words are muffled by strawberry-flavoured candy.

"You actually like that crap?"

Kairi's a little taken aback by his question. "Pardon?"

One finger points to her purse, where the cord of her headphones are coming out. They're resting around her neck. She can hear the music fine without actually wearing them.

"Not really."

Sora says, So why do you listen to it?, and Kairi tells him a friend of hers suggested it. She doesn't mention that her parents are stalking the anti-christ and that he lives in this town. She doesn't mention that her mother doused her in holy water and she doesn't mention rebellion.

Sora leans down so their faces are inches apart. The stick of his sucker jabs Kairi's cheek. It scrapes away at her skin as his tongue moves around behind pouting lips.

"So, at school to avoid bullies. This early?"

Sora's bent over with his legs spread and his hands on his hips. His mouth is turing a little more red than is natural. He smells like strawberry. His eyes look kind of pretty now, and she smiles.

"Yeah."

The plastic is still hurting her cheek. Sora's lips curl up in a sort of half-smirk.

Standing up straight, he laughs. He puts his hand on top of her head.

"I like you, kid. You're off the hook," Sora says as he walks away.

When he's around the corner, Kairi bends down to pick up the candy wrapper. It smells like strawberry and Sora. There's a garbage can at the end of the row of lockers. She tosses it in.


	5. But Have Not Love

**Armageddon**

Chapter 5

_But Have Not Love_

Kairi's first day of school had been confusing, and awkward. She hadn't noticed much, cringing in her front row seats, hating the stares she knew were being cast her way. Today she opened her eyes and looked around; and when she walked through the door of her third period English class, she froze: none of Kairi's newly made friends were in this class, but yesterday, Yuna had walked her here. Today Yuna had been in a hurry to get to her next class and Kairi had assured her that she could find her way on her own anyway.

Kairi wasn't late. But it had taken her longer than expected– there were two seats left, on polar ends of the classroom. There would only be one person sitting next to her, no matter which seat she chose.

Option one: this boy was slightly overweight. Kairi couldn't tell if he was goth or obsessed with the seventies... or both? His nails had been coloured with crayons. His teeth were too disgusting to look at– or think about– long enough to describe. And his eyebrows... oh, God.

Option two. Kairi cringed. She hadn't even realized Sora was in any of her classes.

_It's okay_, she told herself. _He's not that bad_.

Then again, maybe the time traveling goth wasn't that bad either. She scurried to the back of the room after only brief deliberation, the chair scraping loudly as she pulled it out. She set her books down carefully, hoping she wouldn't disturb the napping (?) boy next to her.

He wasn't asleep, anyways, and he sat up the moment she took her seat next to him, glancing around the room like a lazy animal that has all the time in the world.

He laughed. "What's wrong, didn't wanna sit next to _Garnet?_"

Kairi could have said so many things. Instead, she uttered blankly, "His name is Garnet?"

"Oh, yeah," Sora told her emphatically, "He chose it himself. His actual name is Ross but Garnet makes him feel _edgy_."

"Edgy."

"Mmhmm," Sora hummed, trying to sound edgy himself, or.. Ghetto? Or maybe he was only trying to sound like he was trying to sound that way.

"What?" he asked. "Don't he look edgy to you? Cause he looks pretty edgy to me!"

Kairi shook her head. "Do you have a mental disorder?"

Sora laughed. "Oh, no, sweetie, much worse than that."

The room felt heavily silent. But perhaps Kairi had just gone deaf. She heard the shrill ring of the bell, and twisted her body around to face the front. Her teacher, _Mrs_. _Brooks_, shuffled– nearly waddling, into the classroom. She was the type of English teacher that was usually the topic of movies and novels, the type that influences hard, or just plain listless children. But at least one student didn't seem to care what she was saying.

Unwrapping a strawberry sucker produced from his pocket, Sora crooned under his breath, "Just like the one winged dove..."

Kairi stared, wide-eyed, at the chalkboard, diligently taking down notes she didn't need.

"_But the moment_... That I first laid... _eyes_ **on** him..."

What on earth was wrong with this kid?

"Oooh, baby, ooh. Said ooh."

No one else in the class seemed to take notice of Sora's song– including the teacher. Though he was singing quietly, she knew that students within at least a five foot radius could hear. Was this normal? Did he often do this?

"Okay, I want you to do a stream of consciousness– Please tell me you know what a stream of consciousness is... Are you guys in eleventh grade or not? Five minutes, write the first thing that comes to your head. I don't care what. Just write anything you want... Start now."

Kairi picked up her pencil daintily, plotting out a to do list for the rest of the day, making herself reminders.

She was supposed to be writing, she figured, for the whole five minutes, but after a very tiny amount of time, her eyes wandered.

Sora was dotting the page randomly. He wrote _lalalalalalalalalalalalalala_ (etc) in loopy, sloppy script across the first few lines. At some point he had written "if I speak", a random half sentence on the paper.

Then Sora looked up, glancing to where Garnet sat. He turned to raise an eyebrow at Kairi, who blushed furiously at being caught staring. Sora grinned lazily and wrote on his page, "Doesn't it look like he drew his eyebrows on with a fucking SHARPIE?"

Trying not to wince or gasp at the swearword unfolding beneath his pen, Kairi raised her eyes to where the boy sat, smiling when she realized that Sora was right. She blinked a few times, covering her lips with her hand to contain the giggle she felt coming as much as the smile that was already there.

She mouthed, "That's hot," and the five minute timer went off.


	6. In The Second That The Hammer Hits

**Armageddon**

_Chapter 6_

_In The Second That The Hammer Hits  
_

Sora's hands were warm, and they weren't soft– but they weren't calloused or scratchy. Sora's hands had just the right texture to them.

This didn't stop catching Kairi from jumping in shock when she felt them brush against her collarbone.

She and Sora had sat in silence for the remainder of the class after the five minute writing prompt, she too shy and awkward to say anything, and he too caught up in his own little world of doodling and singing the most ridiculous songs that popped into his head– Kairi realized that everyone could hear Sora and that he could only have been doing the musical performance to entertain (she discovered this when he really, really got into a stirring rendition of Enrique Iglasias' "Hero" and could not bring himself to finish without laughing– though perhaps he laughed because he was crying so hard, because it was just so... beautiful?)

She endured his song with a little more comfort when she realized he wasn't being serious, her muscles relaxing just a bit. Perhaps he wasn't crazy after all. This didn't stop Kairi from leaping from her seat when the bell rang though; she was still eager to be away from him. But in her haste Kairi had knocked her things over, and as she bent over the edge of her desk to scoop them up, she felt the contact of skin near her neck– and breasts, she noted with a shudder, thinking the worst.

When Kairi looked down, she saw that Sora had gently grasped her rosary and was pulling the chain sideways towards him. She tilted her body to the side, just a bit, to make the contact of the chain a little less harsh on her skin. Now she faced him.

"Oh," he said kindly, conversationally. "Are you Catholic?"

"Uhh, yeah," Kairi answered, fumbling a bit with her words. "My uhh, parents... I kind of..." _have to be_, she thought, but then Kairi scolded herself. She didn't have to believe in a higher power. She did it of her own free will. "Yes," she told him more firmly. "I am."

Sora smiled. "I have a friend who's devoutly Catholic... and a mother."

Kairi glanced at the clock, wanting desperately to say "I must get to class!" but realized that it was lunch hour.

"You'll probably meet my mother if your parents are Catholic; she's very involved in the church."

"Oh," Kairi said, and then wondered, "What about your father?"

Sora scoffed. "Nah, Dad always says "Jesus is the cause of all wars, on way or another." He's an atheist, but it doesn't affect the marriage or anything."

Kairi breathed in deeply, noting that he smelled of strawberries– no surprise there, though it seemed that was only on his breath– but there was more: sea water and coconuts and sand, and sweat– the good kind, not a horrendous body odor but a salty, tangy smell of humanness and a healthy body that was pushed rigorously, regularly.

"What about you?" she asked.

For a moment he laughed, breathlessly, and then the look on his face became soft, affectionate. She understood that though his gaze was trained closely towards her face, he was not looking at her... It was her rosary, she realized, and he rubbed it beneath his thumb, murmuring, "I don't know. Sometimes..."

Sora shrugged brusquely and dropped the rosary. He grinned at her, a happy-go-lucky face-splitting grin, and jerked his head towards the doorway. "The cafeteria calls."

"Right," Kairi finally breathed out after an awkward silence. She bent over her desk once more to pick up her dropped agenda, and Sora walked around their desks to head for the door at the back of the classroom. As he did Kairi became suddenly hyper aware of her position, the length of the skirt on her flowered dress, and the fact that a teenage boy was right behind her. She shot up quickly, her cheeks turning bright red, and when she spun to look, Sora stood just outside the classroom door, observing the activities of the students passing by in the hallway.

And not looking even the slight bit interested in what Kairi was doing.

She breathed in relief, stepping lightly out the doorway and heading the opposite direction of where Sora was looking. She didn't notice that after a moment he turned, glanced in the classroom, looked around confusedly until he saw her headed down the hall, and followed slowly, politely stopping to say hello to a few friends on the way.

Kairi was already at her locker, and the hall was empty, when Sora caught up to her. He leaned casually up against the locker next to hers, catching her by surprise.

"Oh! I didn't hear you... Um..."

Kairi busied herself with her books, making sure that they were arranged perfectly on the shelf. She found herself suddenly fearful, though he'd been nice enough before. It occurred to her that this had been in a crowded classroom, with a teacher, and this was in an empty hallway.

Ugh, she thought, Why do students rush so quickly to the cafeteria?

Sora was laughing at her as she fumbled with her books.

"Wow," he said, peering in at her things and shaking his head. "Colour coded and everything. And you have an agenda... A calendar, a memo board. Kairi, you've been here a day and it's already like... home."

Kairi breathed in tightly. The tone was kind enough, but she wondered if he was implying anything with his words. Did he not want her feeling at home, she worried. What was wrong with this guy after all?

But Sora moved away from her and to the locker across the hall without another word. He quickly opened the lock and she realized it was his own. How she'd possibly not noticed the proximity the day before was beyond her... Then she realized it was because he didn't use his locker often, as he opened it and papers went tumbling out, and a book shoved awkwardly onto the top shelf came tumbling down on his head.

"Oh! What the fu– Ugh. Ow. Ah." Sora rubbed his head while Kairi fought back giggles. "Damn."

He turned to look at her and she quickly regained her composure, smoothing down her skirt and closing her locker door.

Sora slid down his locker and on to the floor. He picked up a few papers, smoothing them out, but not seeming to really care. Kairi debated walking away vs. staying and making conversation. It would be rude to just trot off... but she wasn't particularly desperate to stick around. Of course, Kairi determined, she should rid herself of that mind set. Sora could be a very sweet boy caught up in high school rumors. Maybe it was just that his friends' reputation rubbed off on him.

"So," she finally ventured. He looked slowly up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"So?"

There was silence, but the mischievous glint in Sora's eyes told Kairi not to feel awkward, because he intended her to.

He began picking up his papers again, not looking at her, and commented– oh so casually– "You shouldn't wear that dress. It clashes with your hair."

Yes, Kairi wanted to tell him firmly, everything does.

But instead her smile remained frozen on her face for a moment and her voice wouldn't work. Then she frowned, a little insulted and dismayed, but her voice still didn't allow her to respond. She'd been insulted before, but it felt different coming from him.

Because he's so weird, she figured. It makes him interesting. And no one wants to be dissed by someone they find fascinating.

Sora continued, "And you shouldn't wear your hair up."

He glanced up at her and saw the offended expression on her face. Her lips were in a firm line but being the polite girl she was, Kairi would never venture to tell him off.

"You have a lovely hair colour," he said, and she blinked, taken aback. "You should wear it down, so people can see. And you should wear clothes that complement it, so people will notice."

"Oh... Well." Kairi shifted on her feet. "Thank you... I won't have much choice after this anyway. They gave me a uniform this morning, so, from now on I'll be just like the rest of the student population."

"Green."

"Er. Yeah. They say it complements red," Kairi replied awkwardly.

"It doesn't."

"I know."

Sora laughed a bit at that. "Can't say I complain," he told her, climbing to his feet. He kicked the remainder of his papers in the locker unceremoniously, threw his books in and wrestled with it until it was closed enough for him to lock it. "I look good in green."

Kairi giggled. "So then why aren't you wearing your blazer?"

Sora answered simply, "Because it's warm and I don't have to. Blazers aren't necessary as long as you have a "white, button up shirt, not sleeveless, to go with your blazer...""

Kairi recognized his words as being directly from the handbook. She wondered what kind of a boy he must have to be to have had a combination of a) messiest locker in the world, and b) student handbook memorized. He spun around and grinned lazily at her. "Too bad you're a girl. You could just get rid of the green parts of the uniform otherwise. But don't try it. There would be hoards of hormonal teenage boys who would love to see you without a skirt. Though I can't blame them, myself being a teenage boy... You should definitely wear clothes to school."

Kairi looked at her feet, blushing keenly. Surprisingly, it didn't bother her that he would say something like that. It didn't even bother her that he had thought of it. She just felt... embarrassed? It wasn't even the right word. "I know, Sora, don't worry."

"Well... I'm off to lunch." He seemed awkward, saying this. "Catch ya later."

Sora winked at her and meandered off down the hallway, leaving her alone to wonder what it was people worried about at all. Sora was sweet, she decided, and happily headed off to the cafeteria on her own.

Flustered.

That was the word. That was the way she felt when Sora made that comment. Flustered, and a little bit pleased. But she shook the thought away.


	7. And Though I May Have Lost My Way

**Armageddon**

Chapter 7

_And Though I May Have Lost My Way..._

"So, Kairi," Selphie said, and her usual, girly smile filled her face. "I heard you've landed in the no man's land that is Sora's good graces."

"Have I?"

Yuna, a sweet, quiet girl with two differently-coloured eyes grinned at her. "That's what everyone's saying. How'd you do it?"

Kairi shrugged, chewing the inside of her cheek. "I don't know. I didn't do much of anything. Just ran into him and answered yes or no when he asked me stuff. We sit by each other in English class." Kairi received a few incredulous looks from the girls. In a whisper, she confided, "It was that or sit by..." She struggled to remember. "Garrett? Garnet? Garnet."

Rikku gagged. "No wonder you chose to sit with Sora!"

Kairi sighed and looked across the cafeteria to where Sora and his friends were sitting. He was resting his head on his fist, watching with a laugh as Tidus and Wakka fought over a plate of french fries. Next to him, Riku leaned back in his seat casually, with a cynical smirk on his face. Kairi watched as Riku drawled something at the rest of the group and Sora's face lit up even more. Tidus and Wakka were now giving the silver-haired boy one of those "haha very funny" looks that usually meant that the 'offended' party wasn't really offended at all.

Kairi wasn't sure why, but she wanted so badly to know what they were saying. She realized that she had a distant, dreamy look on her face when the sound of her newly made friends' laughter snapped her back to her senses.

"God," Rikku murmured, a girl who seemed nothing like the boy who almost shared her name. "I can't blame you for staring. They may be assholes but they're all so cute." She paused and grinned shyly. "Not that I'm in the market."

The whole group was suddenly abuzz and Kairi heard from various different directions, "Oh my God!" "Did you and Gippal finally hook up?" "Why are we just hearing this now?"

Kairi looked from face to face as everyone spoke on top of each other. She felt the familiar pang of loneliness that came with being the new kid, and not being entirely sure of what was going on. She muttered to Selphie that she would be right back and headed out through the cafeteria doors.

She wandered through the school's tiny garden area for a bit; it was maintained by a biology class, she thought, or perhaps by some sort of gardening club. Either way, it was very pretty, and she felt relaxed as she wandered through, gently letting her hands drift across the soft petals of some of the flowers.

Kairi found herself immersed heavily in a state of subdued relaxation, as if she might fall asleep any minute. The gardens were peaceful, and the sun warmed her exposed flesh. Kairi laid down upon the grass and let her eyes drift shut, hoping the sound of the bell would reach her there.

It turned out to be a negligible concern; soon she was jarred from her trance by the sound of deep, masculine voices.

"Who falls asleep on the ground?" a familiar voice asked.

Another, this one even more familiar, responded, "I do."

"We know you do, Sora. I'm sure Riku meant, who among the normal folk falls asleep on the ground."

Kairi heard snickering and cracked one eye open to see four faces peering down at her.

Sora grinned obnoxiously, and Wakka smiled a bit. The other two stared coolly.

"Wakey wakey," Riku drawled.

Kairi yawned and sat up, unable to stop her lips from curving upward when Sora reached out a hand to help her to her feet. She also noticed from the corner of her eyes that the others had a firm gaze on their grasped hands before he let hers drop.

"Thanks," she muttered, yawning a second time.

"You're missing fourth period," Sora told her.

"Oh no!" Kairi gasped. She never skipped classes. She was about to rush past the boys, hoping she'd be only a few moments late, when something stopped her.

"He– Hold on a minute... Aren't... you guys missing it, too, then?"

"Well... Ya," Wakka said with a shrug. Kairi was relieved to hear that his voice wasn't filled with hatred as Riku's gaze was.

"I suppose you would never skip class," the silver haired boy said with a sneer. "Do you always do what you're told?"

Riku's gaze was suddenly drawn to her chest, and Kairi blushed. But when he reached out to her she saw that he wasn't looking at her boobs, just as Sora hadn't been. _Jeez, I need to live more,_ Kairi thought, _I can't even tell when guys are or aren't checking me out._

Riku's nail traced the line of the cross, and his smirk grew dark. "Hm. It seems you do."

"Riku," Sora said, his voice a little harsh. Then, with more exasperation than anything else, he said, "Don't be so mean to the poor girl... You're only a few minutes late, Kairi. If you go now, you can probably convince the teacher you were just lost."

Kairi smiled, though her eyes were on Riku's hand. He dropped her rosary and his pale blue eyes, focused on her face when she looked up, made her need to fight back a shudder.

"Um... Thanks, Sora. I'll– I'll do that."

Kairi tried to walk away at a normal pace, rather than running. But the second she was out of the boy's sight her legs practically flew her to her next class.

The teacher accepted her excuse with a kind smile, and Kairi took a seat next to Selphie and in front of Yuffie.

"Hey, where were you?" Selphie whispered. "At lunch, I mean... Are you alright? You seem flustered."

"I'm fine," Kairi said with a smile. "Just a little lost."

And she was.


End file.
